States

Leisure

The Telegraph

Advisers to pitch for Air India role today

Our Special CorrespondentOct 27, 2017 00:00 IST

New Delhi: The strategic divestment of national carrier Air India and its subsidiaries has picked up pace with the government asking the shortlisted strategic and legal advisers to present their road map on Friday.

The seven firms jostling to bag the role of strategic adviser for Air India are KPMG, BNP Paribas, EY, Grant Thornton, Edelweiss, ICICI Securities and Rothschild India, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) said.

In June, the cabinet had decided on strategic divestment of the loss-making carrier.

Seven law firms, including Hammurabi and Solomon Partners, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, are keen to act as legal advisers to the share sale. Besides, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas, Crawford Bayley and Co, Luthra and Luthra, ALMT Legal and Trilegal have also thrown their hat into the ring.

These firms will also make a presentation before the DIPAM on Friday.

In September, the department had invited applications for engaging up to two advisers and a legal adviser for the strategic divestment of Air India and its subsidiaries and joint venture. The advisers will suggest the modalities and timing of the selloff.

The government has "in-principle" decided to divest the Air India group as a whole or its constituents fully or part thereof through strategic sale with transfer of management control. Air India has a debt burden of over Rs 50,000 crore.

So far, InterGlobe Aviation, which runs IndiGo, has officially expressed interest in buying the international operations of Air India, while the Tata Group said it would "definitely look" at the national carrier once the government finalises the privatisation process. A few firms have also expressed interest in the airline's ground handling arm.